#bkmfellows

Do you want to teach at the Brooklyn Museum? Are you curious about creating museum programs for the public? 📚️🖼️

Applications are now open for our Museum Education Fellowship Program, which will run from September 5, 2023, to June 21, 2024. Learn more and submit your application before February 26.

Apply to become a Museum Education Fellow! 

As a Fellow you will learn from seasoned museum educators and gain in-depth fieldwork experience designing, facilitating, and teaching programs for adult, family, school, and teen audiences. 

The Fellowship is 10-months long and runs from September 12, 2022 through June 23, 2023.  Learn more and apply before the deadline on April 18 at the link below:

https://bit.ly/3CNjhwC

Apply to join our Museum Education Fellowship Program, where you’ll gain in-depth fieldwork experience by designing, facilitating, and teaching programs that address the needs of adult, school, and youth and family audiences. Click here to learn more, and don't forget completed applications are due April 7! ⁣ 

This paid, ten month long program is open to individuals who have recently completed undergraduate or graduate studies and runs from September 3, 2019, to June 20, 2020. 

Each week the Brooklyn Museum Summer Interns and Fellows participate in full-day educational programs that explore the roles of museums through on-site visits and field trips to other institutions around the city. Look out for our weekly posts where we’ll share what we’re doing and learning in the program.

Week Six: This Tuesday morning, we readied ourselves to visit two museums: The New Museum and The Museum of Chinese Americans. At The New Museum, we were introduced to the Black School and exhibits by Kameelah Janan Rasheed that explores the past and futures of black critical pedagogies. After a short introduction the space, we were able to freely analyze the works of art, complete community surveys provided by the Black School and enter into Rasheed’s research space that provides scholarly works for the public to read and even scan and take home. Rasheed was able to create a space that was both artistic and archival, which both aspects worked strongly together to educate the general public about black history that advocates for black education.

After meeting with the participants of The New Museum’s teen programs and discussing their roles in educating visitors about the importance of the exhibits, we made our way a few streets down to the Museum of Chinese Americans. There we were able to freely walk around and explore the museum, which focuses more on history and archival documents than physical art objects. From the history of opium trade to the treatment of Chinese Americans during the Red Scare, the museum provided 160 years of Chinese history for visitors in an informative and interactive way. Kevin Chu, the collections manager for the museum, library and archives, was kind enough to give a tour of the archives for the museum to us. While walking around the storage room, Kevin explained that the collection not only revolves around Chinese American history, but each object tells an individual story, which any museum would argue is the importance of having an archive. 

Week Seven: Starting at the Brooklyn Museum, take the 2 or 3 train 10 stops uptown to Park Place. Get off and walk through World Trade Center station. Catch the Newark bound PATH train to Journal Square, walk through Little India—about 15 mins—and you’ve arrived. Nestled in Jersey City and tucked away from the cacophony of New York lies Mana Contemporary, a 1920s tobacco warehouse turned every creatives’ dream. It encompasses studios and exhibition spaces for artists and serves as a vibrant hub for creativity.

Nerissa Cooney, who serves as the Director of Public Engagement, met us around noon. Unless you’ve done your research prior to visiting, you would have no clue of what went on inside of Mana Contemporary. Nerissa briefed us on Mana’s history and took us to the boiler room which also doubles as an industrial gallery.

We entered the vast, 4000 square foot room which was reminiscent of the industrial revolution and its working class. Stanley Sudol, Director of Mana Urban Arts Projects (MUAP), introduced himself and shed light on the program’s vision. The project is designed for large-scale, site-specific installations by world-renowned street artists. Its goal is to support the art community by highlighting artists whose works can get overlooked.

Stan pointed us in the direction of a gloomy vignette featuring a woman lying on her back, wearing a black bodysuit, confined by a sidewalk grate. Her left arm winded behind her head and her face rested in her armpit. Her knees were bent in the air while the soles of her feet, dressed in a strapped pump style heel, were planted on the ground. Lethargy radiated behind her closed eyes.

It wasn’t noticeable upon entry, but once I saw it, I couldn’t break my gaze. This life-sized installation was one of five from, Brooklyn based street artist, Dan Witz’s mini-retrospective A Modest Sunday Morning. According to Stan, Witz captured his subjects when they were at their most vulnerable, that is, twelve hours after a night of escapades riddled with self-indulgence. Works are scattered throughout the nooks and crevices of the boiler room and illuminated by the sordid, red lights evocative of a dimly lit city.

A Modest Sunday Morning evokes the uncanny phrase, “They’ll find you where I️ leave you.” Amongst the pictured contorted and writhed bodies, a feeling of neglect and slight discomfort is garnered not only for the characters who hide behind the grates, but for their seemingly forgotten narratives as well. The questions, “Who are they and how did they get here?” are raised.

Witz’s surrealist installation uses the mind as a medium as he taps into an unconscious reality. I️ didn’t find the work particularly striking compared to the thoughts that it provoked as A Modest Sunday Morning made me consider the people, right in front of me, who are seemingly forgotten. I thought of the people who actually sleep on the street and, considering this is street art presumably designed for public locations, I️ wondered if this work would get more attention than an actual person in need of assistance on the street. The norm, in New York City at least, is to ignore people asking for help. Why?

On the way home from Mana, I realized that A Modest Sunday Morning prompted me to physically step out of the city in order to raise questions of the inner-workings of the city. I️ don’t know that this was Dan Witz’s intention, but this is where it led me—art’s supposed to take you places, right?

Each week the Brooklyn Museum Summer Interns and Fellows participate in full-day educational programs that explore the roles of museums through on-site visits and field trips to other institutions around the city. Look out for our weekly posts where we’ll share what we’re doing and learning in the program.

Week Two: A lot of emphasis is placed on the front end of museums but what about the happenings that go on behind the walls? On the second floor, past the Arts of Korea introductory wall text, through the double doors, into a really cold holding space for casings with coded entry, and through another set of double doors lies the Brooklyn Museum’s Libraries and Archives. We had the privilege of meeting Molly Seegers, the Brooklyn Museum Archivist. Since she’s the sole archivist, she’s extremely busy, so this was a huge deal for us.

Molly shared the Brooklyn Museum’s roots which extend back to 1823! Its narrative begins in a pub where the founder, Augustus Graham, voiced the need for a library. Some years later, what was initially known as the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library developed into the Brooklyn Museum that we all know and love. She also shared records of the Brooklyn Museum Community Gallery and shed light on the Brooklyn Museum Art School. This resonated with me considering that a couple of the artists featured in the exhibition that I’m working on, Soul of Nation, were educated at the BKM Art School. Following that, we got a peak at some of the 7th grade writings of poet Walt Whitman who was fortunate enough to study in the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library.

The in-house excursion to the archives and library was extremely insightful especially because it helped inform all of our museum practices. The visit also helped us answer our running question, “What role do archives play within museum settings?” I didn’t know how much work went into archives. I found that the visit to the archives gave me a glimpse of the not so pretty, but equally interesting work of archivists. They’re scholars, detectives, and unsung heroes of museum settings whose tireless work enables our cultural institutions to preserve and present the complexities of history.

Week Ten: August 14th, 2018 marked the last Tuesday outing of the first ever Citi-sponsored Brooklyn Museum Summer Fellowship program. The day started at 10am at The Brooklyn Roasting Company in Building 92 on Brooklyn Navy Yard. Or rather, it was supposed to start at ten. This wouldn’t have been an official New York adventure if my group hadn’t ended up lost at least once. Things got a little tricky when the subway suddenly decided to become a 5 instead of a 2. I have learned that that is just the New York way. However, thanks to my city-savvy friend and fellow intern, we arrived at our destination albeit a little behind schedule.

Building 92 is an industrial building with a large rusted orange sign in the front. It is surrounded by a gravel moat with carefully curated flecks of orange scattered throughout. This place was our starting point. Inside, pleasantly surrounded by the aroma of coffee, we met Carli Beseau who would later give us a tour of the galleries in Building 92 and other parts of the Navy Yard. From the cafe, we departed to the Terrace Room on the fourth floor to meet with Elizabeth McGorty: the archivist and records manager for Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC). She talked about the importance of archives which harkened back to the questions posed to us at the beginning of this internship: What are the purposes of archives and how do they relate to museums?

According to Ms. McGorty, archives “collect, preserve, and make available records of enduring value.” At the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the archives house Corporate Records like architectural plans, Manuscript Collections like digitized photos, Special Collections like recorded oral histories, and Museum Collections showcased in the exhibits. Before we went to see these exhibitions, we had the chance to look at a few items pulled from the archives. One item in particular was an undated ID badge for a female Navy Yard Worker. There was something special about seeing something handled by someone in the past with a life of her own. In some ways, it allowed connections to be made that were not previously possible. I don’t know who she was exactly, but I know at one point she lived. She breathed. She existed on the planet I now inhabit. At least in that, we are alike.

Ms. Beseau led us to the first floor gallery; the first thought to enter my mind was nautical. Should I have been surprised that the first word to come to mind at a Navy Yard related to ships in water? The first thing I noticed was the large image of the USS Wyoming. Staring down the front of this massive ship made me wonder if it was scaled to size. There was a cannon in the middle of the room that complemented the undulating timeline depicting the events that occurred “From Wallabout Bay to Today’s Yard.” The dates mimicked the pattern of waves as they brought us from the past to the present. Ms. Beseau raised the question “How do you look and move forward when so much of your identity is in the past?” Ponder that for a second.

The next room was filled with products and pictures of people who make them at the Brooklyn Navy Yard today. Ms. Beseau then took us on an outdoor walking tour on the way to the dry docks where cranes from World War II still operate. History was ingrained in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “So much of its identity resided in the past.” However, I believe so much lives in the future as well. Inevitably one day, the future becomes the past. I wonder what will get archived for the years to come.

One bacon, egg, and cheese later (another learned New York way) we were back on the road headed for our home base: the Brooklyn Museum. Upon arrival we met with Kate Lupo, the Executive Assistant to the Director of the Brooklyn Museum. Kate Lupo gave us an incredibly helpful workshop on how to ace our interviews within the first three minutes. This is her website where you can find more information on how you, too, can land your dream job.

After that, we met with Monica Marino to talk about questions we asked in the beginning of the internship. Questions like: “What is the process of creating and completing special exhibitions?” These questions that couldn’t be answered at first were now resolved showing how much we learned during this internship in our departments as well as from each other. We also addressed some of the frustrations we had at the beginning including the fact that there is usually not enough context provided to think critically about art; or that there needs to be more resources to dive into the meaning of works of art. While these frustrations have not all been settled, we have been able to critically ponder them as a group and think of ways to solve them. This internship has opened a lot of our eyes to the advantages and disadvantages of how museum institutions operate. This is necessary because our generation will be the ones leading them into the future. I cannot wait to see the evolution. To read more from individual interns on their experience in their respective department, visit our blog.

Each week the Brooklyn Museum Summer Interns and Fellows participate in full-day educational programs that explore the roles of museums through on-site visits and field trips to other institutions around the city. Look out for our weekly posts where we’ll share what we’re doing and learning in the program.

Week Five: For the educational program this week, we explored a bit more on the idea of archives as we do each week. However, before we went out for our excursion, we sat in front of the Paul Kelpe piece in the Williamsburg Murals housed in the Museum. Our team exercise was to recreate the abstract piece using construction paper. It was a fun and refreshing exercise that reminded me of the arts and crafts classes we had as kids.

After our mini exhibition of the final product that each team created, we made our way towards the New York City Public Design Commission where we met Julianna Monjeau, the Archivist & Records Manager. Julianna was wonderful and talked to us about the work of the Design Commission and showed us some pretty cool archived records of designs that have come through for approval. It was very cool to see old designs of the buildings and statues. It was a very cool outing. After lunch, we walked right on over (it was a very hot day and we all wanted to die) to the World Trade Center to look at murals. The best part was finding out that Emoni, one of the interns, modeled for one of the murals! How cool is that??

After looking at the WTC murals for a while, we made our way over to Franklin Avenue to look at a mural that remains, to this day, as a memorial for the Crown Heights Riot. Sidney, one of the interns, gave a brief presentation telling us about the history behind the piece. The outing then ended at Beaux Arts Court at the Museum where we discussed the importance of archives and whether the pieces we looked at today belonged in a Museum, an archive, or neither.